Spiritual abuse and canon law in religious life
Obedience is a key part of religious life, but it's law that makes it work.
Religious professions can be dramatic experiences - and not only for those watching.
One of the most memorable moments from my own final profession came when I was kneeling on the sanctuary of our diocesan cathedral in front of my prioress, ready to speak my vows, and then completely forgot what I had to do next.
I was meant to place my hands inside those of the prioress, above a copy of our rule and constitutions which she held on her lap. But I was so nervous that I grabbed both of her hands for dear life — I could have sworn I heard a couple of her fingers breaking — and stared at her in silence. Managing to keep her cool, the prioress maneuvered my hands into the correct position and prompted me to speak.
The incident was a brief moment of absurdity in an otherwise joyful day. But it is also a reminder of something deeply important about religious life.
As I knelt on the sanctuary in which Christ would become present in the Eucharist, my hands connected both to the law of the institute and to the person of my superior, it struck me that this posture made visible the three indispensable, interrelated aspects of religious obedience: obedience to God and his Church; obedience to the superior; and obedience to the specific laws which govern our life in community, known as proper law.
All three are necessary for the healthy practice of obedience under authority. But unfortunately they are not present in every religious community. A superior might ignore proper law in pursuit of absolute authority, for instance; or an entire community might close itself off from the Church hierarchy, and even the moral law, through a misplaced desire to protect the vision of its founder.
In recent years the Church has become increasingly aware of the damage caused, both to communities and to individuals, by such unbalance in the practice of spiritual authority. And the name that is repeatedly given to such damage is spiritual abuse.
There is, as yet, no standard definition of what constitutes spiritual abuse. But we get an idea of its contours by looking at the role that the misuse of spiritual authority has played in high-profile cases of ecclesial sexual abuse.